Not Fragile Stories

Here is my story about how my UM400a TX took a beating and kept on ticking.

Years ago when I was just starting out. I was working on a project in Disneyland. It entailed following around a family of 4 with two small kids. I had just gotten my first Lectro set which was a 411a receiver and 400a transmitter. I was told that the two parents wouldn't be speaking much, and that the dialog from the kids was the most important. So I gave the 400a to one of the kids, and a Sennheiser g3 to the other. The parents got g3's as well.

About halfway through the day, just after lunch when I was walking over to turn the transmitters back on. I came upon the two kids swinging their transmitters around their heads by the lavalier cable. Naturally, time slowed down as I absorbed this situation with super human speed. Before I could get to them however, the kids both ended up smashing the transmitters against the pavement.

The g3 broke into 3 or 4 pieces. No if, ands, or buts about it. It was broken. The UM400a on the other hand, was miraculously intact. Only some of the black paint got scratched off of the corners. Still, I was expecting that it wasn't going to power on anymore. But again miraculously, it did. And then I figured that it almost certainly wouldn't be transmitting properly, but it did. In fact, except for a little bit of the paint scratching, it was unscathed. And let me stress that these transmitters hit the ground violently. I can't blame the g3 at all for breaking. But what I can absolutely do is praise the 400a for being a literal bomb proof tank.

It saved us that day because I only had one spare wireless channel beyond the 4 that were already in use. It took a decent amount of assurances that repairs/replacements would he covered in a timely fashion before I let those kids wear the mics again. Thank you Lectrosonics!